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27th South Carolina Infantry

Editor’s Note: Do you have information on this unit’s role at the Siege of Petersburg?  Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of the screen.  We are happy to exchange information with other researchers.

Muster In: Organized by the consolidation of the 1st Sharpshooters Battalion (three companies) and the 1st (“Charleston”) Infantry Battalion (seven companies) on September 30, 1863.1
Muster Out: April 26, 18652

Commander(s):
Colonel Peter C. Gaillard
Commander Image

Lieutenant Colonel Julius A. Blake
Commander Image

Captain Thomas Y. Simons
Commander Image

Commander 4
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Hagood’s Brigade | Hoke’s Division | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army3

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Hagood’s Brigade | Hoke’s Division | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army4

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
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Third Offensive Order of Battle: Hagood’s Brigade | Hoke’s Division | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army5

  • Commander:
    • ? (July 1-16, 1864)6
    • Colonel Peter C. Gaillard (returned to duty July 16, 1864)7
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Hagood’s Brigade | Hoke’s Division | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army8

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Peter C. Gaillard (at least August 21, 1864)9,10,11
    • Lieutenant Colonel Julius A. Blake (captured August 21, 1864)12

    • ? (August 21-31, 1864)13
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Hagood’s Brigade | Hoke’s Division | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army14,15

  • Commander:
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Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Hagood’s Brigade | Hoke’s Division | Fourth Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army16

  • Commander: Captain Thomas Y. Simons17
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Hagood’s Brigade | Hoke’s Division | Fourth Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army18,19

  • Commander:
    • None listed. (November 1864)20
    • ? (December 1864)21
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: On December 21, 1864, the 27th South Carolina boarded a train bound for Wilmington, NC.22,23

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle:

  • Not at Siege of Petersburg.24

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle:

  • Not at Siege of Petersburg.25

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles26:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Weldon Railroad (August 21, 1864)
  • 2nd Fort Harrison (September 30, 1864)

Bibliography:

Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

Sources:

  1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 104-105
  2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 104-105
  3. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 114
  4. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 114
  5. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 124
  6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 124: Colonel Peter C. Gaillard was not on active duty during the first part of July 1864.
  7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 124
  8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 134
  9. Battle of Ream’s Station.” Winnsboro (SC) News and Herald. May 3, 1905, p. 1 col. 1-4: Just at this period of the battle, a federal officer rode out from their lines on our left. As the firing ceased, he came into our lines and said to Col. Gaillard of the 27th: “Give up that flag, sir, and surrender. We have you surrounded. There comes a column from the left to your rear to cut off your retreat. I have come here to secure you from further slaughter. You have struggled far enough.” The flag was handed over to him.”
  10. Hagood’s Memoirs mention Gaillard as commanding the regiment but he was absent at least until August 24, 1864 per the CSRs, and when he returned he was detached from the regiment.  More research is needed.
  11. Phelps, W. Chris. Charlestonians in War: The Charleston Battalion. Pelican Publishing Company, p. 173
  12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 134
  13. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 134
  14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 142
  15. Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship.  The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1314.
  16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 147
  17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 147
  18. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 155
  19. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 167
  20. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 155
  21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 167: Colonel Peter C. Gaillard was documented as having been in Weldon, North Carolina on at least December 18, 1864.  OR, XLII, pt. 3 pg. 1278 has more information.  Gaillard had been detached from the 27th SC since August 24, 1864.  Did he return?  Was he ever in command in December?  More research is needed, but it seems likely he was not at the Siege of Petersburg during this time frame.
  22. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 104-105: Sifakis does not list the exact date.  More research is needed.
  23. Phelps, W. Chris. Charlestonians in War: The Charleston Battalion. Pelican Publishing Company, p. 171
  24. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 104-105
  25. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 104-105
  26. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 104-105
{ 2 comments… add one }
  • chuck March 31, 2023, 4:02 pm

    I can give you some additional information in the form of an org chart I made for our unit (the 27th SCV). It includes the time frame from the consolidation of 1st SC Sharpshooters with 1st Battalion SC Infantry (ie, Gaillard’s) to Rion’s Regiment being disbanded at Lancaster North Carolina. It’s in PDF. Also, you might consider these additional references: Charlestonians in War, W. Chris Phelps, Pelican Publishing, Gretna, 2004, and South Carolina’s War Between The States, Robert S. Seigler, The History Press, London, 2008.

  • Brett Schulte April 1, 2023, 12:02 pm

    Thanks Chuck. I’ve added those two sources to my spreadsheet, and immediately purchased the Charlestonians in war book. I’ve sent you an email about the PDF file you’ve created.

    Brett

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